Jealous husband kills wife with ax, December 22, 1938

Testimony in the murder trial was so graphic that spectators became ill and fled the courtroom, The Times said. View Larger Map   The neighborhood of the Spinelli home, 305 N. Mountain View.

Have pity for the Spinelli family. Virgilio Spinelli, 97 pounds, said he killed his wife, Rose, because she was going to run off with another man. He dismembered her, burned her remains in a backyard incinerator and scattered the ashes along the driveway. He was convicted and executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin on May 17, 1940. On April 22, 1948, the nude bodies of his divorced daughter Helen and a married co-worker, Travis Webb, were found floating in the surf off Malibu Beach. They were evidently caught in a riptide and drowned. The Times said Helen's 18-year-old daughter had vanished eight months before.

Voices -- Christine Collins, Feb. 21, 1928

Above, George B. Anderson's letter to Christine Collins and below, his letter to Walter Collins.

Hanukkah 1980: Man recovers 400-year-old menorah from dump

Three American nuns and another U.S. woman are shot to death in El Salvador. The Goldberg family of Cheviot Hills usually kept their 400-year-old menorah in a bank vault, but Ellen Goldberg decided to show the family heirloom to a religion class she taught at Wilshire Boulevard Temple. She brought it home and left it in a paper bag--which was thrown out by the cleaning lady. What follows is a story by former Times reporter J. Michael Kennedy about one man's struggle with sanitation officials to retrieve the silver candelabra from the Sepulveda landfill.

Kidnapped girl found buried in box, Alcindor sets UCLA record, December 21, 1968

Above, an update on the Barbara Jean Marckle kidnapping. For some reason, The Times front page didn't get microfilmed. All we have is the runover.

Lew Alcindor reached into the UCLA record books to become the school's top all-time scorer. Alcindor had been ailing with a painful left arch but scored 25 points in the Bruins' 90-51 victory over Minnesota at Pauley Pavilion. Alcindor, known now of course as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, needed only 62 games to pass another former Laker, Gail Goodrich, as UCLA's top scorer. Don MacLean ultimately became UCLA's top all-time scorer with 2,608 points. Just how dominant was Alcindor in college? Here's a clip that includes some great old footage and some discussion between Abdul-Jabbar and Coach John Wooden. --Keith Thursby

Voices -- Christine Collins, Jan. 27, 1928

From the California State Archives

Los Angeles, Calif.   Jan. 27, 1928           Mr. Myron Clark,     Assistant Clerk,     Reprisa, Calif.         Dear Sir,     I want to thank you for the nice letter you sent me in answer to the letter I forwarded Mr. C.S. Neumiller in regard to my husband Walter J. Collins (#12824).     It pleases me to know that Mr. Collins' conduct has been so good and that it is to his credit. You know, Mr. Clark, my husband is not a criminal but he just made a great big mistake due to financial worries and the prolonged illness of his dear mother. I really believe he lost his mind temporarily as our debts began to gather and he committed an act he otherwise never even would have thought of. He is a good man and was a very good provider and it certainly was a terrible hardship for me to be compelled to earn a livelihood for our son and myself. I am not very strong and my work tires me to the greatest extent but I must trudge on hoping upon hope that they will let Mr. Collins return to us and take the wheel as it were. Isn't there any hope of him being released before next Dec.? You know, the judge who tried and convicted him is dead and gone and I dislike to say anything against him but I really do not think he was very fair. One would think poor Mr. Collins were a murderer at the sentence imposed upon him which to my idea was unreasonable. You will find Mr. Collins as I have always judged him, a good man. Thanking you again for your nice, encouraging letter, I am Very sincerely, Mrs. Walter J. Collins 217 N. Ave. 23 Los Angeles, Calif.

Retro holiday gift -- Earl Carroll's Theatre

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The facade of Earl Carroll's in Hollywood A frame grab of the nightclub's neon.

This is the best shot I've seen of the signatures that used to be outside Earl Carroll's nightclub at 6230 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. Listed on EBay. To the best of my recollection, these signatures were preserved after the club closed, but I can't recall at the moment who has them.